The present invention relates to gas barrier coatings, particularly having the ability to block the ingress of oxygen and other gases such as carbon dioxide or nitrogen, and which may be used to coat and impart gas barrier properties to a variety of materials, notably packaging for foods and pharmaceuticals, where exposure to oxygen needs to be eliminated or restricted. The gas barrier, adhesive, and cohesive properties of the coatings are manipulated using surface energetics.
Research paper “Effect of Interfacial Energetics on Dispersion and Glass Transition Temperature in Polymer Nanocomposites (Macromolecules 2013, 46, 2833-2841)” describes quantitative relationships between interfacial surface energy parameters and the dispersion and Tg shifts of polymer nanocomposites on a series of hybrid systems which include a variety of matrices varying from polar to non-polar (poly(2-vinylpyridine), poly(methyl methacrylate), poly(ethyl methacrylate) and polystyrene filled with three monofunctional silane modifications of colloidal silica nanospheres (octyldimethylmethoxy silane, chloropropyldimethylethoxy silane, and aminopropyldimethylethoxy silane).